Meddlesome Moth Redux

Bird Cafe in Sundance Square Plaza draws beer snobs to Fort Worth

Bird Cafe has a wall of taps similar to the one at Meddlesome Moth.
Photo courtesy of Bird Cafe
Bird Cafe's Monte Cristo sandwich will be much like the Monte Cristo served atMeddlesome Moth.
Photo courtesy of Meddlesome Moth
Bird Cafe's theme can be seen in the bird artwork.
Photo courtesy of Bird Cafe

Craft beer fans have a new reason to drive to Fort Worth. Bird Cafe, the newest restaurant from the very busy Shannon Wynne, who partnered with Keith Schlabs and Larry Richardson, opens December 18.

Going into the newly redeveloped Sundance Square Plaza, Bird Cafe is like a Fort Worth version of Wynne's Meddlesome Moth. It has lots of beer and an identical menu created by chef David McMillan.

Signature items include the Monte Cristo sandwich special, "Moth balls," pot pie and mussels. The night menu will include dishes suitable for sharing, such as deviled eggs and chicken-skin chips.

The restaurant, a looming space with 6,400 square feet indoors and 1,300 square feet of patio, is split between two levels in the renovated 1889 Land Title Building and newly built Commerce Building. In a release, Wynne called the Land Title Building, "one of the very last of a building style that used to dominate downtown Fort Worth, representing the lavish and detailed Victorian architecture that Americans at the time emulated from Europe."

The restaurant's bird theme is evident in the art by Fort Worth artists Scott and Stuart Gentling. They created a 47-pound boxed collection of watercolors, called Of Birds and Texas, which features portraits of more than 50 species of birds found in the state.

"This may be one of the only places that all of the birds can be seen hanging in one place,” said Wynne. The Gentlings also painted the domed ceiling of Bass Performance Hall.

Bird Cafe is open daily for dinner only starting at 5 pm; lunch service will be added at a later date.

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Only one Dallas eatery makes OpenTable's top 100 restaurants for 2024

Courtesy of Hudson House

Hudson House on Lover's Lane is the only Dallas restaurant named on OpenTable's Top 100 Restaurants list in 2024.

Restaurant reservation website OpenTable has just issued its new list of the top 100 restaurants in America for 2024, and only one eatery in Dallas made the list: Hudson House, the oyster-centric restaurant in Dallas' upscale Park Cities neighborhood.

The "2024's Top 100 Restaurants" is a compilation of the most sought-after and top-ranked restaurants in the U.S. based on 14 million verified reviews on OpenTable from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024. Restaurants are not ranked, but arranged in alphabetical order by state.

Hudson House, which opened in 2017, prides itself on its East Coast comfort food, with seafood dishes, cheeseburgers, and martinis.

"Oysters are flown in daily and are best paired with their legendary 'World’s Coldest Martinis,'" says the restaurant's OpenTable profile.

The fast-expanding chain was co-founded by East Hampton Sandwich Company honchos Hunter Pond and Kyle Brooks. The Lovers Lane location is one of six operating in Dallas-Fort Worth, most recently one that opened in Preston Hollow in April. There is also a location in Houston and another in Beverly Hills.

Pond, who is also the founder and CEO of the restaurant's parent company Vandelay Hospitality, shared his praise for Hudson House in a statement.

"To represent Dallas-Fort Worth and be part of such an esteemed group of restaurants is a testament to our team’s passion and dedication," Pond said. "We’re grateful to our loyal guests who have made this recognition possible."

Hudson House was one of 10 total Texas restaurants to receive recognition in OpenTable's list. In numbers that seem to reflect the recent Michelin Guide awards, Austin ruled with the highest number of restaurants. On the OpenTable list, Austin scored with seven total establishments, while San Antonio and Houston each had one.

The full list of Texas restaurants named on OpenTable's Top 100 Restaurants for 2024, organized alphabetically, are:

Aba, Austin
Hudson House - Lover's Lane, Dallas
J Carver's Oyster Bar & Chophouse, Austin
Jeffrey's Restaurant, Austin
Red Ash Italia, Austin
Sammie's Italian, Austin
Steak 48, Houston
Signature, San Antonio
Uchi Austin
Uchiko Austin

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